Disney makeover of ‘Brave’ princess angers fans

Outraged fans have launched a petition against Disney’s makeover of Princess Merida from “Brave” for her induction into the Disney Princess pantheon.

In the movie, Merida resisted expectations for princesses to be docile and wear uncomfortable gowns, preferring to ride off on her horse with her bow and arrows.

The new-look Merida retains her trademark red hair, but the locks are notably less wild. She’s also skinnier, with a thinner face, poutier mouth and eye makeup.

“I think it’s atrocious what they have done to Merida,” Brenda Chapman, writer and co-director of “Brave,” said in an interview reported by Change.org.

When little girls say they like it because it’s more sparkly, that’s all fine and good but, subconsciously, they are soaking in the sexy ‘come hither’ look and the skinny aspect of the new version. It’s horrible! Merida was created to break that mold — to give young girls a better, stronger role model, a more attainable role model, something of substance, not just a pretty face that waits around for romance.

Carolyn Danckaert, co-founder of girl empowerment website A Mighty Girl, launched the petition against the makeover a week ago.

“Merida was the princess that countless girls and their parents were waiting for — a strong, confident, self-rescuing princess ready to set off on her next adventure with her bow at the ready. She was a princess who looked like a real girl, complete with the ‘imperfections’ that all people have,” it says.

The redesign of Merida in advance of her official induction to the Disney Princess collection does a tremendous disservice to the millions of children for whom Merida is an empowering role model who speaks to girls’ capacity to be change agents in the world rather than just trophies to be admired. Moreover, by making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior; that for girls and women to have value — to be recognized as true princesses — they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty.

The petition has drawn more than 119,000 supporters.

“The tremendous reaction to our petition shows just how eager parents are for strong and courageous role models like Merida for their daughters,” Danckaert said in a news release.

Disney did not respond to a request for comment, but a company spokesperson told Yahoo! Shine: “Merida exemplifies what it means to be a Disney Princess through being brave, passionate, and confident and she remains the same strong and determined Merida from the movie whose inner qualities have inspired moms and daughters around the world.”

UPDATE

After Disney removed the redesigned Merida from its website, Danckaert wrote:

While this is very exciting news, it’s still too early to declare victory in our effort to keep Merida brave and preserve her original image. Making changes to a website are easy and easily undone; the true test will be how Disney plans on depicting Merida on merchandise now that she is part of the official Disney Princess collection.

To know that Disney is truly committed to preserving the Merida we all know and love, we need to keep the pressure on until we receive an official statement from them promising to keep Merida brave! Given how quickly news stories fade, it’s easy for a company like Disney to wait until public attention shifts to roll out their planned design changes.

That’s why the grassroots pressure from you and our 198,000+ petition signers is so important. Thanks to everyone who signed and shared A Mighty Girl’s petition and helped spread the word about our effort to Keep Merida Brave! Let’s keep the momentum going!”